Kina hora is a yiddish expression, usually followed by spitting, to ward off the evil eye. I n 2004, the stoic, cowboyesque clint eastwood unexpectedly proved himself more tevye the dairyman than dirty harry. However, its rules of spelling are quite different. My mothers yiddish was the yiddish of american jews at a particular historical moment, when the experiences of immigration and assimilation to a new culture were not far in the past. Piano accompaniment by various arrangers this is the first issue of a broadbased and definitive collection of popular jewish and classic yiddish theater songs with piano accompaniment. Jews are not the only ethnicreligious group to believe, at least a little bit, in superstitions. The decade of discovery is a new initiative of the yiddish book center designed to foster a deeper understanding of yiddish and modern jewish culture. Kina hora the evil eye usc digital folklore archives. The yiddish word sholem carries the same denotations. In the book, yiddish with dick and jane, we read, prozac schmozac, at least shes more freylech now kina hora. Buy a cheap copy of yiddish with dick and jane book by ellis weiner. If youre jewish and ashkenazi who uses yiddish expressions, this is the book for you. The belief is not only a jewish folk superstition but also is addressed in some rabbinic texts.
At the same time that the yiddish press acted as an americanizing agent, it was, like the yiddish theater, and the landsmanshaft jewish mutual aid society, and so many other jewish immigrant institutions, an important part of the transitional, religiously based, ethnic culture of the lower east side. Are they yiddish or hebrew or a combination of both. The bread bible is the one book on the subject no kitchen should be without. Though a typical yeshiva bachur doesnt need to read yiddish too often, this lesson is essential so that youll be able to read the yiddish words found in the remaining lessons. Poo poo poo or poo cubed simulates spitting three times to avoid the evil eye. Nehora offers books in hebrew from our online store. The irony that united artists chose norman jewison to direct under the assumption that he was jewish. Sep 29, 2014 jewish word kinehora in 2004, the stoic, cowboyesque clint eastwood unexpectedly proved himself more tevye the dairyman than dirty harry. Judy kunofsky, executive director of klezcalifornia, explains that she loves saying the yiddish phrase kinahora because it reflects what she calls the irrational. She has a panic attack, and she doesnt want to marry tammy anymore. It is one of ten western massachusetts museums constituting the museums10. Could you please explain the etymology of the words kina hora andor ein kina hora. Yiddish has innumerable words which begin with the letters sh or sch. I like books written by yiddish jewish writers and use this book often to find meanings of yiddish words and phrases.
Jun 11, 20 jewish people commonly use the word kinehora in an attempt to ward off the evil eye. The steven spielberg digital yiddish library includes more than 11,000 yiddish titles. The kayn comes from the german for no and the ayin hara from hebrew. Michael wex author of the new york times bestseller born to kvetch, the alltime bestselling book about yiddish, and the national bestsellers how to be a mentsh. I like being home when my daughter comes home from school. Unlike hebrew, all vowels are written as full letters. The importance of jewish ritual in the secular, postmodern. I believe from the book of mormon musical on the 65th tony awards. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of. Velvel pasternak was interviewed by hankus netsky on august 15, 2011 at his home in new york. Beginning with the centers 40th anniversary in 2020, and continuing for each of the next ten years, the center will select an annual theme. Features books and gifts related to yiddish language and culture. To learn more about the wexler oral history project, visit. Velvel pasternak, musicologist and major publisher of jewish music, talks about jewish music.
Oy, how could you tell cousin rhoda you were up for the role of yenta in fiddler, before youve even heard whether you got a call back. A secular community for speakers and students of the yiddish. When we begin to study another language, we dont need a big dictionnary, for in every life in any language we appoximatively need 200 words. The jps dictionary of jewish words, by joyce eisenberg and ellen scolnic, philadelphia, 2001 notes. The laws of kina hora poo poo poo kina hora the evil eye, often preceded or followed by the act of spitting. It is usually used as a formal greeting, especially upon meeting a close friend.
Explore our digital yiddish library of more than 11,000 titles, and our diverse collections, including contemporary oral histories, lectures, yiddish audiobooks, and more. Perhaps the bestknown superstition one thats been around for thousands of years and still maintains. If you buy the paperback edition, amazon will give you the kindle edition free under their matchbook program. Someone told me this phrase and i didnt get to ask what. What i loved about this book was that it explained a lot of what jewish culture is and why being jewish is all about the culture as much as it is about the religion. There are some yiddish words used in english language context. A yiddish superstitious phrase, the equivalent of kina hora, and tevye mockingly imitates her tfu, tfu, tfu. A trusted authority on baking, beth hensperger has brought together hundreds of timetested recipes, both classic and intriguingly original, from gruyere pullman loaf and farmstyle white bread with cardamom to fragrant tuscan peasant bread and classic buttermilk biscuits. According to rabbi tanchum burton, the yiddish phrase kein ayin hora translates as, without the evil eye, or there should be no evil eye. The yiddish book center national yiddish book center, located on the campus of hampshire college in amherst, massachusetts, united states, is a cultural institution dedicated to the preservation of books in the yiddish language, as well as the culture and history those books represent. This is the yiddish term used by people in the jewish religion that basically means that you should not be foolish enough to discuss your good fortune as it will bring about bad fortune onto you kinda like being jinxed if something good might happen and you dare to say it out loud, you must add a k ina hora at the end or the opposite will come true.
Even more so if you have parents who speak yiddish. Yiddish is spoken as a daily language in some parts of america, mostly in new york city, and in some parts of europe, particularly eastern europe, and south america, as well as in israel. Not in the sense of placing a curse so much as knocking on wood. In case youve never heard the phrase in your own home, it typically crops up in situations like these. Many of the great jewish composers abraham goldfaden, mark warshawsky, joseph rumshinsky, alexander olshanetsky. Jun 04, 2019 my people have a term, a kina hora, which translates roughly as evil eye. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the national yiddish book center, staff members planned a party and hoped for a crowd of 1,000. What i loved about this book was that it explained a lot of what jewish culture is and why being jewish is all.
Dec 09, 2007 this is the yiddish term used by people in the jewish religion that basically means that you should not be foolish enough to discuss your good fortune as it will bring about bad fortune onto you kinda like being jinxed if something good might happen and you dare to say it out loud, you must add a k ina hora at the end or the opposite will come true. When he was a 23yearold graduate student, lansky stumbled upon an alarming fact. With just a few hours until helix fellowship applications close, were getting ready to welcome the 2020 cohort by listening to yiddish songs performed by our amazing alums like 20 helix fellow sadie goldshapiro. Both expressions translate as, without the evil eye or there should be no evil eye. Before the shoah, there were estimated to be 11 million fluent yiddish speakers, and today yiddish is experiencing a revival in america. Much to their surprise, 3,000 people came, some traveling by.
Kina hora the evil eye, often preceded or followed by the act of spitting. The national yiddish book center was founded in 1980 by macarthur fellow aaron lansky, who continues to lead the organization as its president. The first jewish hora that is, the first hora introduced into palestine was also composed and choreographed thats another word deriving from khoros. Just look at the title of the season two opener, kina hora, a yiddish phrase used to ward off the evil eye at times of great luck or joy. When its said quickly is sic can sometimes sound like kina hora burton. The yiddish book center is a nonprofit organization that works to tell the whole jewish story by rescuing, translating, and disseminating yiddish books and p. Oy, how could you tell cousin rhoda you were up for the. A century of yiddish in america, by sol steinmetz tuscaloosa, 1986. A klug zu columbus a curse on columbus, or, damn columbus expressed the immigrants exasperation with the land of opportunity. It is wishful thinking to imagine that the malicious explosion of a nuclear device is not in the worlds foreseeable future, and if, kinahora, that happens, it will surely be labeled optimistically once in a lifetime.
The word sholom famously has three meanings in hebrew. The term is also sometimes used to describe evil inclinations or feelings of envy. As a superstitious jewish girl, dare i say i am happy. There is a yiddish expression used by jewish people in reference to warding off the evil eye. Nehora has the ultimate collection of jewish books and items online. Luzer twersky is an actor who was born in brooklyn to a hasidic jewish family. Christian dawid discusses the term yiddishland and explains how it has become a reality.
As the second season began there was much about the pfefferman family that might be harmed by the envy of others invoking the evil eye. In her book ritual theory, ritual practice, catherine bell argues that a successful. Yiddish is, above all, the paradigmatic jewish language the insiders way of communicating to fellow jews about daytoday things talk about god and faith is reserved for lashon hakkodesh the holy tongue of hebrew. Jill soloways transparent continues its accurate portrayal of. Materials about ladino and other traditionally judaic languages welcome. Yiddish for yeshivah bachurimreading yiddish wikibooks. Conversations with god is a sequence of books written by neale donald walsch. Now is the time to book our jewish humor programs and lectures for your. After you order the book, return to the book page and click on kindle edition.
Yiddish book centers wexler oral history project interview with velvel pasternak. Hooray for yiddish a book about english by leo rosten. Click on over to the following embedded link to read famous conversation with god quotes. In the season 2 opener, kina hora, sarah hides out in the bathroom at her wedding with way more than cold feet. Choose from significant works related to tora, jewish history, kabbalah, jewish marriage and more. Yiddish has several dialects which differ in their vowel sounds and certain vocabulary items.
But maybe we put a greater stock in our superstitions because weve had such a tough time of it these past 5,000 years. There are many ways to say this common yiddish phrase, depending on ones transliteration literally, no evil eye. The evil eye, ayin hara in hebrew, is the idea that a person or supernatural being can bewitch or harm an individual merely by looking at them. The reason we pressed for testing she wanted to be tested, too was that her ap classes were giving her plenty of anxiety and she was for the first time, flailing in a few. I choose to experience the grandest version of the greatest vision ever i had about who i am. A list of common yiddish expressions and their meanings.
Book in yiddish, translation, englishyiddish dictionary. Id be sitting at our kitchen table doing homework while my mother prepped dinner, and suddenly id muse, im. Today we return to the tampa jewish community center and federation. National yiddish book center in amherst, ma librarything. A quote from god as stated in conversations with god, book 3, chapter 15 by neale donald walsch. Yiddish, it is an understatement to say, is not simply a language. Three yiddish experts and one englishonly radio producer read yiddish literature and then talk about it on a podcast. The evil eye is one of the worlds oldest and most widely held superstitions. Keeping the yiddish book alive and healthy the new york times. Yiddish is a language that is used by ashkenazi jews that is related to german but also has many slavic, hebrew, and aramaic loan words. Kenahora, although everyone thinks is a yiddish word is actually three words slurred together in yinglish the vibrant language of native americans of the lower east side. In the book, yiddish with dick and jane, we read, prozac schmozac, at least shes more freylech now kinahora. Its a culture, an identity, a past both comic and tragic.
Such an interesting articlekineahora shmoozing with. It has greatly increased my enjoyment of reading these books. Yiddish is written with the same alphabet as hebrew, with a few additional letters, and is written from right to left. When its said quickly is can sometimes sound like kina hora. You can tempt the evil eye by saying positive or happy things. It is to prevent the evil eye, which can be caused by envy, from harming the success or happiness of others. The new joys of yiddish, by leo rosten and lawrence bush new york, 20031968. Scandal star bellamy young gushes in yiddish during. A transliterated guide to the yiddish language galvin, herman, tamarkin, stan on. The laws of kina hora poo poo poo short jewish gal. A secular community for speakers and students of the yiddish language and culture.
As yiddish is roughly 75% germanic in origin, german speakers can understand a large. Online hebrew books books in hebrew hebrew bookstore. The third life cycle event dramatized is found in transparents kina hora. Learning how to be an optimist, without worrying about. The traditional jewish wedding celebration song hava nagila is beginning to build in its intensity from the dance floor.
Oct 27, 2018 my daughter was diagnosed with adhd when she was 17 and in the 11th grade. The book of the pious, a 12thth century guide to germanic jewish. Keeping the yiddish book alive and healthy the new. He grew up in a community similar to the one portrayed in felix et meira 2014 and, although he left it in his early twenties, he is perfectly acquainted with it, to such extent that he served as the technical adviser to the movie.
The phrase to which you refer can be pronounced either bli ayin hara in hebrew, or kein ayin hora in yiddish. A podcast in which three yiddish experts and one other guy talk about yiddish literature. The idea roughly behind, dont count your chickens before theyre hatched. The yiddish phrase kina hora translates as without the evil eye and is intended to keep away bad luck. But thats quasimagical thinking, an itcanthurt pascals wager, not fear of an actual evil one, or belief in. Jul 21, 1985 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the national yiddish book center, staff members planned a party and hoped for a crowd of 1,000. It is slightly higher than standard german, with a large admixture of words of hebrew, slavic, or other origin. Grandest version of the greatest vision rolands ramblings. It was digitized and added to the library in march 20. As yiddish is roughly 75% germanic in origin, german speakers can understand a large part of it. Easy to handle, light weight, this book focuses on the most useful words and expressions of yiddish. In response to a reporters question about the chances of his movie, mystic river, winning the best picture oscar, eastwood cried, kinehora. The archive of the jewish telegraphic agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008.